ASHBURN, Va. — The injuries keep mounting for the Washington Redskins, who put three more players on injured reserve Wednesday to raise their season total to 17: starting cornerback Quinton Dunbar, receiver Trey Quinn and guard Jonathan Cooper.
In other moves, the Redskins (6-6) signed Josh Johnson to be their backup quarterback against the visiting New York Giants (4-8) on Sunday and added guard Zac Kerin, center Demetrius Rhaney and defensive end Marcus Smith as free agents.
“We had a lot of conversations in the offseason about it. We added the recovery room, we are trying to get the right treatment, we’ve got massage tables in there, we’ve got sleep centers, we’ve got all kinds of stuff in there for guys to take care of their bodies,” coach Jay Gruden said about the injury issues.
“But you look at the type of injuries that we’ve had and it’s the same as last year: They are all kinds of different ones. There’s ankles, there’s knees, there’s pecs, there’s thumbs,” Gruden continued. “I just can’t put a finger on it. And if anybody has an answer, I’d love to hear it.”
Johnson has not attempted a pass in a regular-season NFL game since 2011.
But he was Washington’s choice to serve as the backup to new starter Mark Sanchez, who was signed last month and takes over the job after Alex Smith and Colt McCoy each went down with a broken right leg in a three-game span.
Cooper tore his biceps tendon in Washington’s 28-13 loss at the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night. As it is, he was only in the lineup because he was brought in during the season after Week 1 starters Brandon Scherff and Shawn Lauvao went on IR. The other current starter at guard, Tony Bergstrom, didn’t practice Wednesday because of an injured ankle, while starting center Chase Roullier sat out with a bad knee.
Dunbar has been bothered by a nerve problem in his leg and appeared in only seven of the Redskins’ 12 games. Quinn, the last pick in this year’s NFL draft, missed Monday’s game with a hurt right ankle and played in only three games this season, making one earlier trip to IR before being activated.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before. I really don’t know what to say. I don’t know if we’re living wrong or something around here, or what it is,” running back Chris Thompson said about all the health issues the Redskins have dealt with. “But this injury bug that’s been following us the last couple years — I have no words for it.”